MURMANSK, Russia, (Sputnik) – Sweden recorded the first case of the new coronavirus strain that was recently discovered in the UK, Swedish Public Health Agency department head Sara Byfors said on Saturday.
“It was confirmed that a person from Sodermanland contracted the mutant strain of COVID-19 discovered in the United Kingdom,” Byfors said at a news conference.
The official added that the infected person arrived from the UK and isolated himself on his return home. The patient’s family did not contract the infection.
Byfors pointed out that Sweden started large-scale research to find out if the new strain of the infection was spreading in the country.
“Since the information came, we have intensified monitoring. Today we analyze the exams of everyone who came back from the UK in October. On Monday, we issued a recommendation that everyone who travels pass the exams, so that we can monitor the infection and ensure that this variant of the virus does not spread in Sweden, “said Byfors.
Last week, the United Kingdom announced that a new strain of coronavirus was detected in the country, with the new variant 70 percent more transmissible than other variants of SARS-CoV-2. After the news broke, many countries suspended travel to and from the UK. However, there is no evidence that the new strain is more pathogenic. Cases of the new variant of the virus have been reported by several countries, including Denmark, Japan, Singapore and Spain.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Sweden has not confirmed any new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, with the total number remaining at 396,048. The country registered 28,928 new COVID-19 infections last week.